By Nicole Rivard
ALVISO, CA --In the advertising industry, TiVo has had negative connotations like a lot of other four-letter words–until recently, that is. The company that is synonymous with ad-skipping has been busy creating new ways for advertisers to get their message across, and on Wednesday signed an agreement to sell research on the advertising-viewing habits of its customers to advertising agency Omnicom Media Group.TiVo signed an agreement with Interpublic Media in May to provide interactive advertising opportunities to its clients.
“As the only truly DVR-based advertising solution available today, TiVo is at the forefront in helping advertisers engage the consumer while allowing subscribers to maintain control of their television entertainment experience,” said TiVo’s CEO Tom Rogers. “The partnership is all about working with the key advertisers within the OMD and PHD business units {of Omnicom} to embrace the biggest change in television viewing, consumers fast-forwarding through commercials.”
OMD and PHD, as part of the agreement, have committed to purchase TiVo’s second-by-second advertising and audience measurement research. Omnicom and its clients will also buy advertising time on digital video recorders used by TiVo subscribers. Moving forward, Omnicom Media Group and TiVo will also partner to develop an exclusive engagement study that incorporates TiVo’s DVR behavioral data.
One of the ways in which advertisers can relay their messages to DVR users is through lengthy commercials provided on an opt-in basis–a more customer centered approach. In other words, subscribers can search for commercials that match their interests.
“We’re very pleased to enter into this new partnership with TiVo. Our clients will receive economies of scale on pricing and we will also have the opportunity to participate in TiVo’s second-by-second research while also participating in new TiVo service and platform initiatives,” said Daryl Simm, chairman and CEO of Omnicom Media Group.
Last month, TiVo announced the creation of TiVo Audience Research and Measurement (ARM), offering advertisers, marketers, networks and advertising agencies second-by-second data and analysis on DVR viewing. The data provides advertisers with insights into the viewership and effectiveness of their TV advertising by network, genre, day-part, time-slot, day of week and pod position.
While most consumers purchase TiVos for their ad-skipping capabilities, there are some commercials they find too compelling to skip over. Now Omnicom will have the inside scoop on exactly which commercials are too good to TiVo.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More